Magellan was astonished. He was surprised to hear his slave Enrique addressing
the natives of Masao (or was it Limasawa?) in the local dialect, and the
natives appeared to understand him, and they replied in the same tongue..
Pareho toni sila hong sinultihan. The historic encounter happened in the last
week of March 1521. If the contact was indeed in Masao, Butuan, then, was
Enrique a Butuanon? Was Enrique de Malacca therefore Enrique de Butuan?
Thanks to Laurence Bergreen and his book Over The Edge Of The World
(Perennial/HarperCollins 2004), from which this posting is solely based, we
will see later that Enrique could in fact also be the first person ever to
circumnavigate the world - a distinct feat and a great honor for a Butuanon and
for Butuan. We shall also find out later however that there was dark side in
the life of the enigmatic Enrique.
WHO WAS ENRIQUE? Magellan had acquired the slave ten years earlier in
Malacca, and there he was baptized Enrique. He has followed his master Magellan
ever since, all the way across Africa and Europe. If Enrique had originally
come from the Philippine islands, was captured as a boy by slave raiders from
Sumatra , and sold to Magellan at a slave market in Malacca, the chain of
circumstances would account for his understanding the local language. This saga
of Enrique is of immense historical significance. Upon his arrival with the
Spanish explorers in Masao (di taya Limasawa?), he had completed sailing around
the world and came back to where he was from - the first person ever to do so -
while the Spanish explorers were only halfway through in their journey. Enrique
was therefore the first person to have circumnavigated the world. He was the
first person to have sailed westward and arrived home in the east from where he
started. Enrique was the first person to have proven that the world is not
flat, but in fact is round. This much is clear: if Enrique was not a Butuanon,
he must have been a Bisaya.
AFTER MAGELLAN WAS KILLED, WAS ENRIQUE NO LONGER A SLAVE? Enrique fought with
his master on the beaches of Mactan against Lapulapu. He was wounded, Magellan
was killed. The infamous date was April 27, 1521.
Magellan had provided in his will that Enrique shall be granted full liberty in
the event of his death. He wrote:
I declare and ordain as free and quit of every obligation of captivity,
subjection, and slavery, my captured slave Enrique, mulatto, native of the city
of Malacca, of the age of 26 years more or less, that from the day of my death
thenceforward forever the said Enrique may be free and manumitted, and quit,
exempt, and relieved of every obligation of slavery and subjection, and that he
may act as he desires and sees fit.
Magellan further provided a bequest of 10,000 miravedis (one miravedi equals 12
modern cents) to Enrique.
Now that his master, Magellan, was dead, Enrique proclaimed loudly that at last
he was now a free man, at long last he was relieved of the yoke of slavery.
But, the new leaders of the Spanish armada wanted to keep Enrique a slave
forever, Magellan's will notwithstanding. Their intransigence forever altered
the course of history.
ENRIQUE IS BETRAYED, ABUSED AND DECEIVED. The new leaders of the expedition,
accustomed to the slave's unquestioning subservience, and still in need of his
linguistic and diplomatic skills, insisted that he continue to obey orders and
remain a slave. Enrique, coming to his own after years of servitude, stubbornly
refused to yield to anyone's authority. He was a free man, or so he thought.
Pigafetta recorded that Duarte Barbosa, now co-commander of the armada, told
Enrique in a loud voice that, although his master was dead, he would not be set
free or released, but that when they reached Spain, he would still be the
slave of Madame Beatriz, Magellan's wife. Pigafetta likely covered up a
considerable amount of verbal abuse on Enrique.
Sebastian Elcano's account of the confrontation was that Juan Serrano, the
other co-captain of the expedition, abused Enrique, harshly reprimanding him in
bitter words, that he was still a slave and that he would be whipped if he did
not obey orders.
Enrique at first sulked, withdrew to his bunk, and wrapped himself in a
blanket. Then he became enraged. Ire overtook his heart. He furiously stalked
off the ship.
Pigafetta believed that Enrique, after leaving the ship, sought out King
Humabon of Cebu , to scheme against the armada. He believed that Enrique told
Humabon that the Spanish armada was about to depart, and that Humabon could
gain all the ships and all the merchandise aboard if they act promptly. And so
they hatched a conspiracy against the Spaniards.
Elcano recorded a similar story: Enrique, deeply hurt and feeling deceived,
secretly spoke with the Cebuan King Humabon, telling him that the Castilians
were endlessly greedy and that they would soon come and arrest him. Enrique
convinced the Cebuan King that the Castilians had been plotting against
Humabon, and that there was no other solution for them but to plot back against
the Spaniards. Furthermore, after the Castilians' departure, Humabon would have
to contend with Lapulapu of Mactan. Because Humabon sided earlier with
Magellan, it was only a matter of time before Lapulapu would come after him.
There was moreover intense pressure from many of the island's men who fiercely
resented the way their women had been treated by the Europeans.
THE MASSACRE OCCURRED 4 DAYS AFTER MAGELLAN WAS SLAIN. It was on a Wednesday,
the first of May 1521, barely four days after Magellan was killed in Mactan,
that Humabon invited the armada's leaders to a feast, a promise of a lavish
meal, and a promise of gifts of jewels and other presents which Humabon wished
the fleet to present to the King of Spain. Hong mikasabot, klaro nga libah ini,
pero waa ba makasabot ang mga Katsila. A large contingent attended, in all
about a quarter of the entire crew. Pigafetta was unable to go to the feast
because of the wound from a poison arrow he received in the battle of Mactan.
Gines de Mafra, among those who remained on board, described and entered into
historical records the rapidly unfurling events leading to the bloody massacre
- the murderous chaos engulfing the sailors on shore:
As the banquet was about to end, armed people emerged from the palm grove and
attacked the Spaniards, killing 27 of them, and capturing the priest and Juan
Serrano, who was an old man (and the new co-commander who had threatened to
whip Enrique). Others swam back to the ships and, helped by those aboard, cut
the cables and set sail; as the barbarians were gorging on the killing. The
natives brought Juan Serrano to the shore and said that they wanted to exchange
him for ransom. The old man implored our men with words and tears, asked for
sympathy for his old age and pleaded that we not become accomplices, lest his
days end in the hands of such cruel barbarians. The ransom was discussed and
they asked for an iron gun; this was sent to them on a skiff. The Indians asked
for more, and no sooner would our men grant their request than the Indians
would reply asking for more, and this continued until, realizing their
intention, those aboard the ships did not want to remain there any longer, and
said to Juan Serrano that he himself could very well see what was going on, and
how the Indians. words were all but pretense.
Serrano begged his crew members to come to his rescue, but they refused.
Pigafetta was appalled by the cowardice of the crew for refusing to mount a
rescue. He wrote that Juan Serrano, weeping, said that he would be killed as
soon as they sailed. But the ships did sail away. He must have squirmed as he
endured the agony of watching the fleet that he was co-commander of, weigh
anchor and leave without him.
The crew's last sight of Cebu was a frightening nightmare, they saw the
enraged islanders in a frenzy of tearing down the cross on the mountain and
smashing it to bits.
Enrique had his revenge. The Castilians had miscalculated. They had
under-estimated the ire and vengeance oozing out of every pore of the man
subjected to abuse, deceit and injustice. They realized too late that trinkets,
bells, mirrors, and other gifts had not bought the loyalty and subservience of
the natives. It was an error of historic proportions. Yet today, the lessons of
history still appears unheeded, similar errors still occur.
MORE SPANIARDS WERE KILLED IN CEBU THAN IN MACTAN. Twenty-seven men were
killed in the Cebu massacre, while only 8 Castilians, including Magellan, were
slain in Mactan. Thirty-five Spaniards were killed in a span of 4 days.
Eight survivors of the massacre were captured, making a total of 43 Spanish
hands lost that week. They were sold off later as slaves to the Chinese
merchants who regularly visited Cebu
During the battle of Mactan between the forces of Magellan and Lapulapu, four
of Humabon's men who came to the aid of the Spaniards were also killed, not by
Lapulapu's men but by friendly fire from mortars on board the Spanish ships.
Fifteen of Lapulapu's men died in the encounter.
Bati ko, the Cebu tragedy could have been avoided had the Spanish
conquestadores respected the rights of a freed slave. The massacre that
followed was an inevitable and tragic consequence of an injustice done to a
lowly man however uncivilized.
The epic voyage of exploration had left Spain on August 19, 1519 with 260
intrepid adventurers aboard 5 ships; only 18 returned on September 6, 1522
aboard one battered ship.
THE ENIGMATIC ENRIQUE. Even as Enrique has since disappeared from history, the
question lingers: who was Enrique? He could be Enrique de Malacca, Enrique ang
Butuanon, Enrique de Limasawa, Enrique de Cebu, or Enrique nga Bisaya.
But never could he be Enrique de Filipinas. There was no Philippines at that
time. Our archipelago then was named Lazarus by Magellan, claiming the country
for Spain's King Charles. It was not until 22 years later that our country was
renamed Las Islas Filipinas, after King Philip, by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos. But
this is another intriguing tidbit of history, an interesting subject for future
posting in ngani butuan at butuanon.org.
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